According to Wallethub.com around 30% of students in the Midwest have credit cards. I may go against the common belief that credit cards are bad and not many people should have them, but I wish this number was higher. Credit Cards, in my opinion are commonly misconceived by the general public. People are often afraid of spending money out of control and not being able to stop due to the accessibility that credit cards allow. People are, therefore worried about ending up with debt and massive credit card bills that cannot be paid off. People also get worried about losing their credit cards and having information stolen. Keep in mind throughout the course of these article I am not in any way saying these worries are invalid or not possible. My reason of writing this article for you today is not to make you scared of credit cards, but to show you some of the benefits they can provide and how to use them responsibly.
These benefits I am referring to include:
· Being able to raise your credit score
Credit cards, if used correctly, allow you to raise your credit card. This will allow you in the future to have lower interest rates on many loans you may need including home loans, auto loans, and even student loans (for private loans).
· Having a safer method of spending money
I say this because credit cards, have fraud protection which means you do not have to worry if someone steals your credit card or you lose it, and somebody runs up your credit card bill. Also, if a charge is on your credit card statement that you did not make you can refute that charge and get your money back.
· Having increased purchasing power.
The last reason I believe credit cards are good is because they do allow for people to have increased purchasing power. This is simply because you do not need to have $100 cash or more on you at a given time. Credit cards allow you to spend money that you do not currently have on you. Like I stated earlier this can become a problem for people so furthermore I am going to provide you with tips on how to use your credit card wisely.
Some ways I recommend using credit cards while in college
-Only using your credit card on one good or a select category of goods like gas or groceries a month
This will limit the amount of money put on your card a month (which is very good for your credit score) and will also allow you to pay it off quickly if you miss a payment.
-Paying off your credit card the day after you use it
This will make missing a payment virtually impossible and keep your balances up to date so you know how much money you have left.
-Get a bank with a mobile app
This allows for you to make your payments easily and stay up to date on many of your credit activities.
Thank you for reading my blog today and If you have any questions on this please do not be afraid to reach out to me at knapp.mitchel@uwlax.edu or any one of our peer mentors at it makes cents. Schedule an appointment today at https://www.uwlax.edu/it-makes-cents/.
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